I Know Him By Heart
by Tuttle
Summary: Follows 'What the Heart Wants' and 'Matters of the Heart' Edmund is faced with a terror that threatens his family. Parts 1-3 Added. Please R&R.
1. Chapter One

I Know Him By Heart  
  
Edmund Grey sat behind his desk at Tempo Magazine. His shirt sleeves were pushed all the way up and his top two buttons undone. The telephone receiver was cradled on his shoulder.  
  
"Edmund Grey..." he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "No, Brooke is on vacation... until the seventh of July... yeah... yes, of course..." There was a knock at the office door and it swung inward slightly. Edmund motioned the visitor in. He smiled a bit as Mia Saunders entered. "I'm writing it down now..." he said. "By the 20th... no, no, thank you." He hung up the phone and stood from behind his desk, approaching Mia.  
  
"You're busy," she said. "I could come back."  
  
"No," Edmund said. "I promised you lunch and that's exactly what you're going to get."  
  
"Really," she said. "It's OK."  
  
"I have everything under control. Brooke went with Tad and Jamie to the Caribbean. I'm just trying to keep her work in order until she gets back."  
  
"I did hear that they were out on one of the islands." Mia paused. "I also heard that there might be some knot tying going on down there."  
  
"Tad and Brooke?" Edmund said. "No, not yet. Tad doesn't want to rush into anything. from what Brooke's told me, they've only been back together since January or February."  
  
"That's about six months. And they were married before." She paused. "Tad usually acts on impulse."  
  
Edmund shrugged. "Who knows," he said. "We just might be surprised when they get back from St. Barts." he paused. "But until then... are you up for some lunch?"  
  
Mia smiled. "Sure," she said. "I called up and got us a table at the Valley Inn."  
  
"Sounds Perfect," Edmund said as the phone rang. "Just... let me get this." Mia nodded as Edmund picked up the phone. "Tempo..." he said. "This is Edmund Grey... Mrs. Andrews, yes. Is there a problem?.. Maddie did that?.. You are..." Edmund rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "OK... I'll be there in five minutes... I'm very sorry about this... Thank you." Edmund hung up the phone.  
  
"What happened?" Mia asked.  
  
"That was the principal at PVE," Edmund said. "She's running the summer camp this year." He paused. "Maddie was in a fight. I have to pick her up. We're going to have to put everything else on hold for now."  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Of course." Mia said.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Oh, no. Really. It's not a problem. I've got some stuff back at Fusion I need to handle before Greenlee blows a gasket." Edmund kissed her forehead. "Call me later, OK? Let me know how things turned out."  
  
"Yeah," Edmund said as he rushed out of the office.  
  
  
  
Maddie Grey sat in a chair outside the principal's office at Pine Valley Elementary. Her feet didn't even touch the ground as she swung them wildly, her head down staring at the floor. She saw a pair of feet before her, afraid to look up.  
  
"What happened here?" Edmund asked, crouching down in front of the little girl. "Maddie? Do you want to tell me what happened?" Maddie shook her head. "I know you got into a fight on the playground with Melanie. I thought you two were friends." Maddie frowned. "Did she do something?" Maddie shook her head. "Did she say something?" Maddie was silent. "What did she say, Maddie?" Maddie shook her head again. "I can't help you if you don't tell me."  
  
"I can't." Maddie started to cry.  
  
"Hey," Edmund lifted her chin. "Nothing Melanie said about you could have been that bad."  
  
"It wasn't about me," Maddie sniffled. "It was about you and Mommy."  
  
"Maddie, honey," Edmund said. "Don't you listen to what anybody says about your Mommy and me. Especially if you know it's not true."  
  
"But..."  
  
Edmund held his finger up to her lips. "No buts. You know that truth, right? You know that both your Mommy and I love you very much. No matter what happens and no matter where Mommy's living."  
  
"I know," Maddie said.  
  
"And now... What did we say about hitting?"  
  
"Hitting's bad."  
  
"That's right. It doesn't make your problems go away, right?" Maddie frowned, nodding slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she sniffled. "Am I in big trouble?"  
  
"We'll talk about it later," Edmund said. "We have the rest of today and the whole weekend to think about this." Edmund stood, taking Maddie hand. "Come on," he said. "I need to get back to work. You're going to be assistant today. Do you have everything?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Alright," he said. "Let's go." He led Maddie out of the school and to the car. He helped buckle her into the seat and then got in himself, heading back to Tempo. 


	2. Chapter Two

"Tempo..." Edmund answered his phone.  
  
"Edmund?"  
  
"Brooke?" he said. "You're supposed to be on vacation. What are you doing calling into work?"  
  
"Oh, no reason." Brooke said. "I just uh... I wanted to see how things were... going back home." She paused.  
  
"They're going fine, Brooke," Edmund said. "Really. You should be enjoying your vacation."  
  
"Oh, Edmund. Edmund I am. I am. I actually... I didn't call about work."  
  
"I kind of figured that." he said. "So... what did you call all the way from the Caribbean to tell me?"  
  
"I wanted you to be the first to know." Brooke said.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"I'm getting married." Edmund was silent. "Edmund? Are you still there?"  
  
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I'm still here. You just... you caught me off guard. Congratulations. Really. I'm happy for you two." Edmund paused. "Listen, feel free to use Wildwind."  
  
"Thanks, Edmund," she said. "I really appreciate that."  
  
"So when were you planning on making the ceremony?"  
  
"Oh, not for a while yet," Brooke said. "We're really in no rush."  
  
Edmund saw a light flash on his phone. "Look, Brooke, I've got another call coming in. Enjoy the rest of your vacation, OK? I'll talk to you later." Edmund picked up the other line. "Tempo..." he said. "Yes it is... Uh huh... I have my children to consider... I know I wrote the story... Just that it's high profile... I don't want to be there for it... I know. I know that it was my investigation that helped put him away... I can't handle a death penalty case... I know... I'll sit this one out... Thanks for the call."  
  
Edmund hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. He took a deep breath, running his hands over his face. There was a knock at the office door and it swung inward slightly.  
  
"Edmund?" Mia said, entering the office with Colby. "hey," she said. "Are you OK?"  
  
"Yeah," Edmund said, leaning forward. "Hi there, Colby."  
  
Colby smiled. "Colby and I are spending some quality time together right?" Colby nodded. "While Liza and Adam are at the S-H-R-I-N-K." Edmund leaned back again. "Colby, sweetie. Why don't you go see if Jill will give you a tour, huh? Then you can come back and tell me all the neat hiding places you found." Colby nodded excitedly and ran out of the office. "Edmund?" Mia took a seat in front of his desk. "What is it?"  
  
"It's nothing." he said.  
  
"No, no," she said. "I know that look. You can tell me... Please?"  
  
Edmund looked at her. "I just got a call from out West." He shook his head. "It was about eleven or twelve years ago, before I came to Pine Valley... There was a young girl who was... she was found murdered. I uh, I was following the case, reporting on it. And when they finally found the SOB who killed this girl, the governor credited me with helping to put him away."  
  
"So... what's that have to do with why you're all upset?"  
  
"The murderer, Brian Donnovan, he requested for me to be there... for the execution."  
  
Mia was shocked. "What are your going to do?" she asked.  
  
"I'm not going to leave my kids to see a killer take his last breaths." He paused. "This whole thing is just a bit much for me to handle."  
  
Mia reached out and took his hands. "I can't even imagine what this might be like for you."  
  
"I'll be fine." Edmund assured her. "I just didn't expect to hear Donnovan's name again."  
  
"Aunt Mia?" Colby walked into the office. "Can we go now?"  
  
Sure, sweetie," she said, standing. "We were just on our way out to lunch and were wondering if you wanted to join us."  
  
Edmund took a deep breath. "Could I take a raincheck?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," Mia said. "Yeah, sure. Are you going to be OK?" Edmund nodded. "Alright. You have my number."  
  
"All of them," Edmund smiled. "Enjoy lunch." Mia nodded as she took Colby's hand and left the office.  
  
Edmund took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. He tried to calm his nerves and forget about the call, but he had no luck. He stood from behind his desk and walked to the door, hitting the lights as he left the office. All he wanted to do now was go home to his children. 


	3. Chapter Three

"Kick the ball over here, Mommy!" Maddie giggled as they ran around Memorial Park. "Over here!"  
  
Maria gently kicked the soccer ball and Maddie went to stop it with her foot when a pair of arms came down and scooped her up.  
  
Maddie let out an excited squeak. "Hey, that's cheating," she laughed.  
  
"No it's not," Aidan said. "We didn't say there were rules against picking up the goalie." He looked at Maria. "Did we?"  
  
Maria laughed. "Nope. I don't think so."  
  
Maddie continued to giggle as Aidan placed her back down on the grass. "Don't be silly Mommy," Maddie laughed.  
  
"Silly?" Maria laughed, putting her arms around Maddie, falling to the grass, tickling her. "Silly?" Maddie continued to giggle. Maria paused a moment. "Let's see." she said. "What should we do with Maddie Grey here? Sharks?"  
  
"There are no sharks in the lake."  
  
Maria smiled. "No, I guess not, huh?" She paused. "I guess we could forget about the sharks. How about some ice cream? You wanna go get some ice cream?"  
  
"Yea!" Maddie cheered.  
  
Maria smiled, handing the child a few dollars. "Just go right down to the ice cream man and come right back, OK."  
  
"OK, Mommy," Maddie said before running off.  
  
Aidan walked over to Maria, crouching down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "Maddie's really warming up to you." she said.  
  
"She's an incredible little girl," Aidan said, kissing her head.  
  
"Yeah, she sure is. I feel like her mother, you know. I feel like I could be..."  
  
"You are her mother."  
  
"I just wish... if there was one thing I could remember... that I could remember being a mother to my children.""  
  
"Mommy!" Maddie called, running up to Maria and Aidan. "They didn't have any chocolate, so I got vanilla with sprinkles."  
  
"Sounds yummy." Maddie held the ice cream up for Maria to taste. "Mmm," Maria smiled. "Cold." Maddie laughed, leaning back against Maria. "Don't forget that your Daddy told you to save some room for dinner."  
  
"Daddy's bringing us to McDonald's for Happy Meals." Maddie said. "I'm gonna ask him if you and Aidan can come too."  
  
Aidan looked at Maria. "I think Daddy wanted to take just you and Sammy to dinner."  
  
"You used to eat dinner with us all the time, Mommy. How come you don't anymore?"  
  
Maria took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what, sweetie. I'll talk to Daddy... and we'll pick a day to have dinner together, OK?"  
  
"You promise?"  
  
"Cross my heart," Maria smiled.  
  
"Yea!" Maddie cheered. Maria laughed. "Why don't you go make sure you have everything so we can get going."  
  
"Aww, do we have to?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm afraid so. I told your Daddy I'd have you home early." Maria paused. "Go ahead."  
  
Maddie ran off to collect her things as Maria looked over at Aidan. "I could meet you back at the Pine Cone," she said. "Then maybe we could pick up some dinner of our own? Sound good?"  
  
"Sounds great," Aidan said as Maddie returned.  
  
"Ready to go?" Maria asked her.  
  
"Ready to go," Maddie repeated.  
  
"Oooo Kay," Maria smiled. "Say bye to Aidan and we'll get you home to see if Sammy's back from camp yet."  
  
"Bye, Aidan," The little girl momentarily clung to him. "Thanks for playing with me."  
  
"You're very welcome." Aidan said. "You have a good time?"  
  
"Uh huh. I'm gonna practice really hard so I can win next time."  
  
"I'd better be ready," he said.  
  
"Come on, Maddie." Maria said, extending hand. Maddie took it willingly. "I'll see you in a little while." she said to Aidan.  
  
Maria led Maddie back to the car, leaving Aidan in the park and they headed back to Wildwind. 


End file.
